


Aftermath

by mustachio



Category: Assassin's Creed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 03:59:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mustachio/pseuds/mustachio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After seeing Ezio at Carnivale, Cristina is in no mood to deal with her husband.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

When she walks away from Ezio, she is determined to make herself forget about him. It would be so easy to just turn around, go back to him, and give into the desire to continue what he’d started, but she has too much pride for that. She has too much pride to go back to someone who seemed to honestly think that there was nothing wrong with impersonating her husband and just kissing her like that after eight years. It makes her angry to think of the way he did that without even considering how she would feel about it. Who does he even think he is that the idea would even come into his mind? She can’t deny the fact that she has missed him over the years – or, well, she could, but she would only be lying to herself. She has missed Ezio terribly, but that did not mean she really wanted to see him.

She's walking quickly, trying to find Manfredo in the crowd of people and the time it takes to do so is extremely frustrating. She's in no mood for smiling, but for the sake of appearances she attempts one anyway. It's half-hearted at best, a downright scowl at worst and she's certain that if anyone were to actually take the time to turn and look at her they would notice it right away. That's fine, though, let them know she's in a foul mood. Let them no that she's not in the mood for fun and games any more, she honestly doesn't care at the moment. It doesn't really matter either way - the crowds seem to care about her and her mood as much as she cares about them seeing her failed smile and why should they? It's Carnevale. They're here for fun and games and drinking, not to worry about some stranger's bad night.

She wants nothing more than to go home and get away from all of this-- this happiness. It's a terrible thing to wish for anyone to be unhappy simply because you're unhappy, but when she's bitter about everything as she is, it's hard to do the opposite. It would be such a relief when she could finally curl up in bed and go to sleep, forget about those few minutes that ruined the entire evening, and never have to think about them again (although if she were being really honest with herself, she'd admit that she would be thinking of them far longer than she should). She doesn't understand why she can't stop thinking about Ezio. He's been gone for so long and both of their lives have continued without the other around, so why does she always get so hung up on him when her mind drifts off to some memory from years and years ago?

When she finally finds Manfredo she wastes no time in approaching him, taking a deep breath so that she might smile a bit easier and resting a hand on his arm to get his attention. The moment he turns she kisses him, completely uncaring of the opinions of others around. He is surprised at this - he's hesitant to respond and his posture is slightly stiff - and his surprise annoys her enough that she pulls away almost immediately. It's ridiculous for her to be annoyed - it's not like public kisses or any form of affection were typical behaviors of hers, but everything seems to be a trigger for her temper tonight. She is sad and angry and she wishes that she had taken a little more opportunity to get some real closure with Ezio, but she didn't and because of that she's projecting all of her negativity on him.

"Let's walk around for a bit."

It's the exact opposite of what she wants to do, but she says it anyway and when he offers his arm, she pretends not to see it and walks ahead of him for a few steps until he catches up. She is incredibly short with him for the rest of the night and he doesn't understand why. How could he? How could he possibly know that the reason she is so upset with him is because she really didn't want to marry him in the first place and this night has just been one big reminder as to why that is? There was no way for him to know and she intended to keep it that way. 

She doesn't yell or make a scene - Cristina isn't the type to do that where everyone can see - but it's the snide remarks and the way she rolls her eyes when he makes the smallest mistakes that give her temper away. Many times he is tempted to ask what is wrong, why is she in such a foul mood, but he never does. He only pretends not to notice that she is upset, that the meaning in her sarcastic remarks go completely over his head. The way he sees it, if you ignore the problem, it will eventually just go away - it's the same way he's always handled his gambling. Unfortunately, his plan works just as well as it does when he's trying to ignore the fact that he owes someone money, which is to say it doesn't. In fact, it only makes the problem worse.

Cristina doesn't mean to take her anger out on Manfredo, but when she is upset she is also irrational and it doesn't fully occur to her that he hadn't actually done anything wrong. It wasn't his fault that Ezio pretended to be him to get to her, it wasn't his fault that she was still bitter over being kissed and immediately left behind to be married to him, and it wasn't his fault that she still loved Ezio despite her marriage to him. None of it is his fault, but he's there and seeing Ezio again for the first time in years only reminded her of how Manfredo is always there even when she wishes their places were switched.

At some point, while Manfredo is speaking with someone he recognized from somewhere - she'd only been half listening when the connection was explained - she finds herself playing with the necklace she's worn nearly everyday for the past ten years. She doesn't know why she still wears it. All it is at this point is proof that she just can't move on as she knows she should and she resents herself for that and, unfairly, she resents Manfredo for not being enough to at least make her want to try to move on. The urge to go home gets stronger the longer she plays with the necklace. It feels heavier than it ever has before and she wants nothing more than to take it off and lock it in a drawer so that she would never have to see it again (although, once again, if she were really being honest with herself, she would admit that she wouldn't be able to keep it off for very long before it went right back on.

Underneath the desire to go home is another surge of annoyance with Manfredo. He's never given her a necklace that she could replace this one with. He isn't the type for giving gifts, she knows that, but she should have some piece of jewelry from her husband other than her wedding ring and she has nothing like that. If Ezio could give her something, Manfredo should be able to as well, but he has neglected to do even that much. 

She should probably feel guilty for comparing him to Ezio so much. They are nothing like each other and it doesn't make sense for her to be so focused on a man she hasn't even really seen in ten years that she can't stop making comparisons between him and her husband. She can't help it, though. Not tonight - not when, for whatever reason, Ezio had decided to see her knowing as he did that she did not want to see him. It's got her distracted and thinking and really, really wishing she had gone for the closure she would likely never get now. She should feel guilty for being unable to put even a fraction of her heart into the marriage, but she doesn't. Not now. Now, she can't handle feeling guilt. Now, despite her lack of a choice she can't handle being around the reason she was left behind, her husband - the man who apparently loved her enough that Ezio saw it fit to leave her with. Cristina wonders what it is exactly that made him think that way because in ten years she has not seen any great amount of love coming from this man.

Eventually, when his back is turned and she's sure she won't be noticed, she slips into a particularly crowded area and remains there for a good portion of the night. She doesn't want to deal with the crowds right now, but dealing with them would be ten times more bearable that dealing with the man she's only pretended to love for the past ten years.


End file.
